The British Picanha challenge

As the weather gets better, drier and warmer here in the UK. We have been having quite a few BBQs, we do not need much encouragement in order to throw a few shrimps on the barbie.

We set ourselves a mission, to find the best all British Picanha.

For those of you that don’t know yet. Picanha is the most popular cut of meat in Brazil, probably most of South America.

The Picanha also known as Rump Cap and as the name suggests, this cut sits on top of the Rump, it is very tender, delicious and it melts in your mouth. I’m a purist, I like to barbecue my Picanha and only season it with rock salt.

The findings so far:

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Breed: Luing:

The Luing breed was famously evolved by the Cadzow brothers on the Island of Luing in Argyll off the west coast of Scotland. Admiring the outstanding complementary qualities of two great beef breeds – the Beef Shorthorn with its fleshing qualities and the Highlander with its ruggedness and hardiness, in 1947 they selected some of the best first cross Shorthorn/Highland heifers that could be procured. These heifers were bred to the Shorthorn bull, Cruggleton Alastair. Two sons of this breeding were kept and mated to their half-sisters: Luing Mist in 1952 and Luing Oxo in 1953. From then on, by following up this in-breeding with line-breeding, the Luing breed was firmly established and with many generations sired by Luing bulls, they proved themselves as breeding true to type. The British Government officially recognised the Luing as a breed in its own right in 1965.

It was delicious, the layer of fat on top was just right, be flesh was tender and the flavour was great.

Breed: Hererford:

Originally from Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom, more than five million pedigree Hereford cattle now exist in over 50 countries. The Hereford cattle export trade began from the United Kingdom in 1817, starting in Kentucky, United States, spreading across the United States and Canada through Mexico to the great beef-raising countries of South America. Today, Hereford cattle dominate the world scene from Australasia to the Russiansteppes. They can be found in Israel, Japan and throughout continental Europe and Scandinavia.

Also very nice, although the layer of fat was small in comparison to the Luing, flavour and tenderness was as expected.

Breed: White Park:

White Park Cattle are a very old breed of beef cattle, kept in Britain for more than 2,000 years but which are now rare. They are closely descended from Britain’s original wild white cattle that were enclosed in parks by the nobility during the middle ages. By the end of the 19th century, such parks had largely gone out of fashion and the breed struggled to survive until 1973 when the Rare Breeds Survival Trust was formed and chose the White Park as its logo. From around 60 animals left in the breed at that time, the numbers have grown so that there are now more than 750 adult breeding cows. The breed is classed as “Minority” by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Was the best we tried so far, although this Picanha was hung for 60 days, so the comparison might not be fair. The fat layer was just right and the flavour and tenderness were out of this world.

Breed: Dexter:

The Dexter breed originated in the South West of Ireland. The smallest native breed of cattle in the British Isles, they are hardy, dual-purpose cattle, producing excellent beef and milk, an ideal suckler cow for conservation grazing.

Also very nice, although the layer of fat was just right and flavour and tenderness were as expected. This was also hung for 60 days.

I will Keep this post up to date as the search for the best British Picanha goes on…

whole piece of picanha

Cut the whole piece into thick 1 inch thick slices

Remove membrane at the bottom from under the cut.

Grilled to taste

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Andre

Meet the Chefs

Our passion for Brazilian cuisine comes from growing up around people that could cook, and cook well. We praise our parents and grandparents culinary skills. We Brazilians love food and especially the social side of it, getting together with friends and family, having a few beers and eating great food.

Andre Queiroz
“In my opinion, some of the best moments in life happen around the kitchen table.”

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